to be at an icy impasse over the so-called fiscal cliff. this is hours after the white house rejected the counteroffer. >> while their proposal may be serious, it's also a nonstarter. they know any agreement that raise tax on the middle class in order to protect more unnecessary giveaways, the top 2% s. doomed from the start. it won't pass. democrats won't agree to it. president obama wouldn't sign such a bill and the american people won't support it. >> you don't get people together until they finally sit down at the table and negotiate. it's still too much posturing, still too much the president wants his way, somebody else wants it that way. >> the gop's opening bid includes $2.2 trillion in tax reform, entitlement reform. but here's the problem, it includes no tax hike for the top 2% that republicans must have and something that the president

repeated on the campaign trail. >> the obstacle here continues to be republicans who hold out hope that we can somehow go through this process and still deliver tax cuts to millionaire and billionaires. and that's just not going to happen. >> with just 28 days to go, who will make the next move in this fiscal faceoff? >> john boehner's counteroffer was pathetic. even the tea party members are saying that it was pathetic. this republican party in the house pet better show courage or it's going to be voted out of power two years from. >> the president is going to have to do something big to get this done. there's been four years course of he doesn't get along with the party, he doesn't make the kind of effort that you're talking about. i don't think there's going to be any doubt that they have to find some interhuman connection moment na says we are doing

this. >> let's get started. joining me is bob casey who is moderating the hearing on the fiscal cliff next week. sir, i start with the comparison of the two plans so everyone can see this. the gop plan through closing loopholes and no deductions and rate hikes, as we pointed out as exposed under the democratic plan. the republican plan includes more entitlements through republican reform and then eligibility age being raised than the gop plan including changes of social security not addressed under the president's plan. so these plans, obviously, to the naked eye, they deliver greatly. no matter what con eggs sessions will be made on oert side, explain where you see the sensible center. >> first of all, that plan makes no sense because it forgets about and casts aside the most important focus we've got to bring to this, is what happens to middle income families. that's where the house should pass the legislation. we've already passed. give some certainty.

get that part of the deal done. then we can have a debate about upper income folks. the idea that you have a bill in the house that will protect middle income families right away if they voted out of the house and the president signs it, which he will, the idea that you can just let that sit there and come up with something else doesn't make sense. so if they come together with us to focus on the middle class and make sure that they are protected, then we can have some debates. but i think we can still come together. unfortunately, i think the latest proposal isn't going to work and it actually doesn't make sense for the economy overall because middle income families drive the economy more than 80% of the economic activity of consumer spending is generated from people making less than 150, not 250. so we need to have middle income families have that security and then we can talk about the top 2%. >> the president is sitting down, as we speak, with six governors from both sides of the

aisle. >> right. >> we're getting first pictures in of that meeting. as we wait to hear what comes from this, is it time for the president to make speaker boehner an offer that he just can't refuse, one that both sides are going to look at as serious? what harry reid is saying a what the gop came back is a nonstarter. john boehner said over the weekend we are nowhere on this. it's a nonstarter plan and i'll raise you with a nonstarter plan? >> i do think that at this stage sometimes the coverage of the back and forth doesn't really indicate to americans what's really happening. there's going to be a the lo of back and forth. i think it's still relatively early because you have two proposals now and not a lot of progress with those two but you also have a lot of discussions at the staff levels, members talking to other members. so i think we're moving into a new stage. but i'm not too concerned about the back and forth at this stage. we still have a lot of work to do. but we should agree on one priority. we should come together first

and foremost to give certainty to middle income families. we can disagree on a lot of other things but let's get that done and let's avoid the terrible impact of the automatic spending cuts which neither side supports. >> all right. so as we -- as you were talking about the fact of the coverage of this and how people rundsing t running back and forth and the pew poll showing that majority of americans believe that congress will not reach a deal. more americans would blame republic republicans in congress than the president. if we can appear far from the deal having hashed out, are democrats more willing to go over the cliff in order to potentially push through more comprehensive tax reform in congress? >> i think we should avoid that and we should come together on tax rates, come together on avoiding the automatic spending cuts but also still try to get an agreement where you're cutting spending.

we need to reduce spending, just not in an arbitrary way. i still think we can get an agreement. i do believe, though, tax reform as essential as it is, i don't think it can get done in three or four weeks. the tax reform that we do needs to be done well and that's going to take some time. i don't think that should be the priority right now. we've got to get to the end of the year. get that done and also come together on some agreement that avoids these cuts that don't make sense for our economy. if we do those things, in addition to other things, we've got all kinds of tax provisions as well. get that done. tax reform is going to take, in my judgment, months. and that's a centerpiece to the longer term agreement. >> real quickly, before we let you go, i know you attended the white house christmas party with the president and other members of congress. how much egg nog was had had and was anything hashed out after the egg nog?

>> i tried the egg nog. it was good. but it does help in those instances. you're at a party and that's nice. it's a holiday season. but you do get to talk to people in both parties and that's how relationships are either formed or strengthened and that's how it will help when you get to the negotiation table. as much as it is light and holiday inn spired, it helps in the long-term as far as building personal relationships. people are people and there are a lot of ways to bring people together, not simply to get to know each other across the negotiation table. >> it's not all about the numbers. as leaders, you are part of the american people as well. i'm glad that you can get personal over egg nog. senator bob casey, thank you so much. i want to bring in jackie kucinich and morris and alfonso aguilar. all look like they had an egg

no nog-free night. as i said, we have some of the first picture coming out. everything, of course, looking pretty cordial as we go. president obama has put his initial offer on the table. is the executive pow-wow more about this is what other people are thinking? >> governor stakeholders are in this, too. you heard governors saying over the last couple of weeks, even republicans saying that it's okay to raise taxes on the wealthy. it could provide the president with more fodder or could end up the same place that we've been for the last three weeks. >> all right. alfonso, let's take a look at

this. the official white house response to the gop counteroffer was this from dan saying, their details provide no statement on deducks they would eliminate, which loopholes they will achieve. at this point, why no specifics? >> well, because i don't think the white house still understands how the legislative process works. that's why we need negotiations. the president of the united states is back to his old dog and pony show for three weeks after the election he didn't say or do anything. he's back to giving public speeches. with a plan that he knew was going to be rejected by republicans, we actually need the president of the united states to sit down with speaker boehner and have a kfrg. i can't understand this president. he likes to legislate and give

speeches but he doesn't like to get involved actively in the legislative pros is he and that's exactly what we need and we haven't heard increase in revenue. we haven't heard what the white house is willing to give up and i think the plan is reductions in spending and what is increasing deficit is not that the rich is not paying enough taxes. >> what is going to come from the left? because david brooks from the "new york times" made this observation. republicans have to realize that they are going to cave on tax rates. the only question is, what do they get in return? as we know, tax rates are a must-have for the president, the revenue there as alfonso was pointing out, revenueses are on the table. what are democrats willing to put on the table in return for

that in a form of concession or perception of concession? >> i think that the democrats are prepared to meet them halfway. but let's be very clear and i want my colleague to hear me as well, we're not going to relate gate the campaign. the president ran on the seminol issue that he will raise the tax rate on the richer americans. it's very clear. your party ran on a very different story. you guys lost. the president is putting forward the plan that he ran on. he's come to the table with a very detailed plan. let's be clear, this is not a parliamentary system. the president is not a member of congress. is he a president of the united states. what you're he suieeing is obam 2.0. he will take the american people and put the pressure not just over republicans but democrats

as well because all of congress has become the problem. the president is moving beyond the gridlock and talking directly to the people and engaging them and putting the pressure on all of congress, not just republicans. >> alfonso, speaker boehner is already seeing backlash within his own party, jim demint releasing a statement calling the tax revenue proportion of boehner's $800 billion tax hike. so here it is with boehner trying to make the base happy, meanwhile trying to meet the president within these negotiations and rise up to his leadership vision. what else is it that the base doesn't seem to like? if the base was able to rally around the right candidate that they wanted to for president, mitt romney would be worried about this coming up in the next presidential term. >> look, the fact that boehner's been criticized by conservative organizations and other republicans show that he's seriously considering

negotiating the white house and we saw the results of the election, we're willing to concede their increases in revenue but to the point of my colleague, we are not in parliamentary democracy but we're not in a monarchy either. we're in a constitutional democracy and the mandate of the people was for both parties to work together. republicans are saying, we're willing to increase revenue. what is the person willing to give up? >> membership friend, ty friend on this alone. you guys lost. we need to rally around the concept that you must compromise in washington in order to -- you guys didn't come up with any tax relief and your party's base is acting crazy. that is the problem. you don't realize it takes more than your party's outliers.

>> where is the sensible center on this? >> listening to both of them talk, when you look at the pew pole that you cited before, republicans have the most loose public perception right now. when you look at that poll, it hasn't really moved. when you look at the numbers of a couple weeks ago, they are exactly the same. it's back and forth and that's fine but the public still perceives that the blame could end up with republicans if they go over the fiscal cliff. >> power panel, jackie, alfonso, thank you. grover norquist is going to join my colleague, alex wagner, and discuss whether the republican plan meets his expectations. that's coming up in the next hour on "now ". made in the usa. iran claiming that they captured a u.s. drone. plus, prince william in and

out of the london hospital visiting his wife kate dealing with extreme morning sickness after being diagnosed as pregnant. it's causing a lot of speculation, though, about what is causing this morning sickness. could it be twins? 28 days to go, who would you blame if the nation goes over the fiscal cliff? tweet me @thomasaroberts . also, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift?

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let's go straight to d.c. and the governors that we told you about. they have just taken to the microphones. let's listen in. >> the president picked up on that and said he would be interested in our ideas with respect not just to the fiscal issues buts also the pro-growth issues. so we've got a number of follow ups. the president will be the point person going forward but very much an invitation for us to stay involved and i believe, as

i say, as three democrats and three republicans, we all agreed we were going to come here to focus on what we have in common which frankly is a lot and i think we all realize that there's an impact on our state, certainly by what happens here and we need to make sure that we as a governor national association and as individual democrats and republicans we are working together. with that, i'm going to turn it over to governor fallon and i'd be happy to answer questions for you. >> thank you, i'm mary fallon from oak be cla home ma. we are very happy to be here on behalf of the national governors association and secretary geithner's briefing upon the economy and some of the discussions going on here at capitol hill. this is a very serious time for our nation, for our individual states, especially as we are recovering from the 2008 economic downturn that our nation took and certainly the impact that it had upon our

states. we know that there are still many states in our states that are experiencing budget shortfalls and some states have experienced growth and are recovering and we're still dealing with states that have lower unemployment rates and some have higher unemployment rates. so we want to be part of the solution to the problems facing our nation to be able to offer some of the innovative ways. we've been able to address some of the concerns that have faced our own state budgets and certainly we understand that the discussions being held about federal cuts, whether it's taxes or tax reform, whether it is spending here on capitol hill or whether sequestration that will have a huge impact on our individual state budgets and as governors we are preparing our state budgets, which i think most of us will introduce in january and february as we begin our legislative sessions. so we have decisions that we have to make and so we are hoping that as not only the

president but as the u.s. congress, the house, the senate finalize and hopefully we'll be able to come to the conclusion at the end of this month that we will be included to give our advice, our opinion on the effects upon public policy and how it will affect our budgets. we also have some ideas about how we can save money, how we can be able to create more efficiencies and government and spending with some of the different demonstrations that we've done in our various states and we plan on getting back to the president, vice president with some of our suggestions and ideas. so we appreciate their time today. >> so with that, why don't we take a question -- i think what you'll see, we're not sort of saying it should be this plan or that plan. what we all agree on is something that ought to get done and the idea that taxes on so many middle class americans could go up at the beginning of the year if something isn't done is something that could negatively impact the economies

in all of our states. so with that we'd be happy to take some questions. >> plan to have middle class tax cuts be extended now and have it put off a discussion on tax rates for the wealthy and did you also encourage or support the president's plan for tax rates to go up on the top 2%? >> well, we're not backing one particular plan or another. as i said a moment ago -- and i'll ask my colleagues to comment additionally -- none of us want to see taxes on middle class folks go up. and we think it would have a significant effect on our economy. >> absolutely. >> i think what i heard and what we are giving the message today and we'll give it not only to the white house but to congress, too, you have to come together and get this done. this impacts the economy and uncertainty out there that is lingering is creating havoc with our economy and our states and

in my particular budget, not only don't we have growth money which we're anticipating in utah which is having a pretty healthy economy, we could take as much as a $500 million loss in revenue strings because of not getting it resolved. we're going to encourage people to come together and get it done. we're also saying that states are willing to do our part. we understand this will be a shared sacrifice as you have to look at spending cuts. states are willing to do more with less. we're asking for more flexibility. it's a common theme that we've talked about with the president, with congress. give us more flexibility. take away some of the strings and we can do more with less, help you balance your budget. >> governor walker what exactly did you say to our president and did you talk about taxes? >> well, in our case, as jack and mary both mentioned, we're not here as individual governors. we're here as part of the

national governors so tp it wasn't to discuss a specific plan nor to dismiss a certain plan but as governors we have a seat at the table and part of the discussions both in terms of the impact of our finances and economies in each of our respective states in this country. the things i talked about is similar to what others talked about, concerns about the economy and finances and offering up suggestions that we're going to follow up on as an organization as ways that we can highlight things that are good for the economy and our states and for our finances but it's similar to discussions later with the congressional leadership where governors aren't -- we're not elected to fix all of the problems in washington. the president, members of congress are here to do that. we're here to offer a resource in a way that could help not just our state governance but the way we represent our individual states.

in our case, we talked about this just the other day as an negotiation. we felt it was imperative to focus in on things that unite us republican and democrat alike and that's what we focused in on. >> listening to governor scott walker wrapping up the group of six, the bipartisan governors who just got out of a meeting with president obama, and the issues on the table as far as the response from the speaker john boehner. it's interesting to here this group saying that they don't support one plan over another but were firm in the fact that they believe the middle class tax breaks should go through and that's something that both sides can agree ongoing forward. joining me from washington, d.c., reed wilson, editor-in-chief of the national hotline. it's good to have you here. you were listening to this. how important is it to make sure that the governors around the country and particularly this

six, why they were chosen, making sure that the governors are on board with any plan going forward as we try to negotiate the back and forth negotiationses between the right and the white house? >> well, it's because the governors feel this budget shortfall. they are planning for as they are going through their budget process, is that money that i'm earmarking for education or transportation or whatever is happening in the state actually going to be there when the time comes for me to spend it or are we going to have to call the state legislatures back in session and make these cuts across the board? it's always a pretty traumatic when a legislature has to come back and revise a budget and sort of account for money that is not there when you expected it to be there. that's why getting these governors on board is really important. i actually sat down with a lot

of them at the republican governors association meeting a few weeks ago out west. and a lot of them were saying we've planned for this. we've made preparations in advance. the real thing that they are concerned about is what happens to the military spending, what happens wh happens when their bases in the home state cuts back. a lot of them have planned in advance for the federal money not to be there. >> we heard governor herbert of utah saying that they understand the shared sacrifice, wanting to do more with less but needing the flexibility to do that. do you think that's in the pipeline? >> that's certainly not the talking point that -- i should say, that's a little more nuance than the talking point coming off of capitol hill from the republican side right now. but, of course, everybody is talking about shared sacrifice from president obama to john boehner to governor herbert of utah. their version of fixing the fiscal cliff is that acceptable

shared version. >> reed wilson, thank you for being with me. i appreciate it. we're going to be right back on msnbc right after this. [ female announcer ] you know exactly what it takes to make them feel better. ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] that's why you choose children's tylenol. the same brand your mom trusted for you when you were young. ♪ how much i love you [ humming ] [ female announcer ] children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. [ humming ] bp has paid overthe people of bp twenty-threeitment to the gulf. billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger.

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fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. here's a look at some of the stories topping the news. chris christie is seeking congressional approval for storm relief in new jersey. fema's chief is appearing before a house panel on sandy. providing counseling for that couple, jovanbelcher and as they mourn for their loved ones. >> as a family, no words can express the sorrow that we feel for can kasandra and jovan. we are overwhelmed with both sadness and contusion. the flu season is off to an early start. the strain this year can make

people sicker than other types and are your honoring the urging the public to get flu shots. record high temps were broken from the great lakes to texas yesterday. temperatures in chicago even reached 70 degrees. and the barefoot man who received new boots from a new york city cop is not actually homeless. police say that the 54-year-old man has an apartment paid through disability and veterans benefits. we are following this developing news coming to us from iran. officials claiming that the iranian navy forces shot down a u.s. drone over the persian gulf earlier this morning. a spokesman for the u.s. says there are no missing drones. what are you hearing about how all this all happened and the public declaration that they had a u.s. drone.

>> reporter: that's right. the iranians are claiming that they captured a drone that was flying over the u.s. they said that the drone was on a reconnaissance mission gathering data over iran and that it isn't the first kind of situation of its kind. they said that the drone was on a reconnaissance mission and iranian troops have been monitoring it over a few days and captured it and electronically jammed it and brought it down. then, later state tv showed revolutionary guard commenders inspecting a drone that they brought down in front of a map of the persian gulf that says we will trample america under our feet. the u.s. denied that this drone had been captured but this happened last year as well, thomas. iran captured electronically jammed and captured the u.s. drone. the u.s. denied that it had been captured. later iranians released the

drone and showed it it and the u.s. asked for it back. we'll have to see if the u.s. admits anything later. >> ali, thank you. i want to bring in retired colonel jacobs. for more analysis and thoughts about this developing story. jack, you hear ali reporting that one is not accounted for but the fact that this is something that iran got over the persian gulf. your assessment? >> it's likely the same one that they got last time. that's the first possibility. the second possibility is that it belongs to somebody else. there are other countries that have this eagle scan vehicle, including the united arab emirates. it's possible that iran got it, either they bought it or got it in some other fashion, stolen from one of these other countries. it's a small, very capable

reconnaissance drone with a wing span of ten feet. we have quite a few of them. they launch from navy ships. you can bail them out of the water when they run out of fuel after about 20 hours or so just with a retrieval hook. infrared capability and best small radar. the whole thing is the size of a shoebox. there are a lot of them out there. if i were the american government, i'd deny it, too. so the first thing you do is deny it or you do like the israelis and you neither confirm or deny and let somebody else prove that they got it, they came by it like they said. >> all right. we'll wait to see what more comes out of this story. another international hot spot that i want to get to boiling, a mortar attack outside of damascus killing 28 people. nato warning not to use chemical weapons against its forces.

adding to president obama's very stern warning yesterday i want to remind everybody. >> i want to make it absolutely clear to assad and those under his command, the world is watching. the use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. and if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable. >> the consequences, what do you think the president is talking about and, specifically, does it mean getting in the public business of giving arms to the syrian rebels? >> i don't think it has to go that far. one warning says if as in when the rebels win and you lose and you're going to the gal low the more immediate concern is that the united states may get involved directly just like we did in libya from a standoff

distance against targets we already have, centers of sear ren troops, government offices and so on. i think that's the thing that is really going to influence them not to use it. >> do you think that's going to happen any time soon? >> that we launch weapons? >> uh-huh. >> it's possible but only if they do something like use chemical weapons. we've been trying to stay out of it, which is a good thing to do. and so far we've been successful. but i think the president is just drawing a line in the sand. cross this, use chemical weapons, and there's no telling what we're going to do and i think that means launching cruise missiles across syria. >> colonel jake jacobs, thank you. and your book, "basic, tales from basic training." >> snoo.

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all right. so with 2016 speculation already under way, many are wondering what is next for one of the nation's most popular political figures. first lady michelle obama. now, the latest washington post poll puts the first lady's favorable rating at 69%, just behind barbara bush. but more popular than hillary clinton and laura bush. alison samuels, it's good to have you here. i appreciate it. >> thank you. thank you for having me. >> all right. so everyone want to know if michelle obama would follow into the political for she has said that she's not interested in politics but it hasn't stopped people from asking that question. >> no, it doesn't.

>> when she appeared at the democratic convention in september, i think people were reminded of how smart and engaging she is and that started the chatter of, what if she ran for public office given that she's or the of able to galvanize people with her speech, her smile, with her sort of -- she's so passionate about everything that she talks about, all of her initiatives. she really pushes very hard for. i think a the lo of people are wondering, even though she doesn't want to be a politician, what kind of role would she have in public after her husband got out of office. i don't think she'll run for office but i think she'll have a very strong presence once his term is up. >> samuel l. jackson has said, michelle is super woman. she can being on the supreme court if she wants. she can be the president. and representative james clyburn said, she is straightforward she is exactly what we need around

here. do you think she would serve? if we look at hillary clinton and the way that she went to become a senator, do you think that that would be the path that michelle obama would take or do you think, again, she's more instrumental from behind the scenes and supporting things publicly and the people that she meets publicly to get thing done? >> i think what is interesting, for her, yes, behind the scenes works better. what i think is fascinating is will she fall victim or not sort of fall victim but will people be able to persuade her. she's the most visible african-american woman that we've had and she can be more impactful as the time goes on. will people will able to convince her that she could be more visible by holding public office? i don't think she'll be swayed but the conversation is going to continue and get louder as 2016 comes and facebook has a page that says obama/clint or clinton/obama. so that talk is going to keep

going. >> what a ticket. >> it would be a great ticket. >> she's a young woman. she's only in her late 40s right now. so a long way to go. >> right. >> allison samuels, thank you. the book is, "what would michelle do?" if you are in a home right now, it's called the home mortgage interest tax deduction. it let's you and millions like you deduct the interest that you pay to your mortgage company. it can be taken for interest on mortgages up to $1 million for a first or second home and interest up to $100,000 in home equity loans. but as deep-seed lawmakers lock horns of ways to cut spending and increase revenues, there's a chance that tax break, which costs the government $100 billion a year, could vanish. a columnist, financial advice

blog, ask the money coach joining me right now. this is a red flag for so many people around the country and as we come up on the end of the year. who benefits most from this deduction? >> well, homeowners, of course. if you're a first-time home buyer, that's been a huge encouragement to jump into home ownership as opposed to renting. higher end owners, people who have luxury homes, high-end, 500,000, $600,000 homes, if they have jumbo mortgages, they've been able to write off the interest on those properties so that definitely benefits. that's one of the arguments that people are making for making this tax break go away. they are saying, listen, it's subsidizing, by and larin large because the most common home mortgage is under $200,000. >> so let's go over this. the makt for everybody out there, i want to put it up

there. if you earned $85,000 in 2011, about $50,000 of your tax will be interested at a 25% rate. if you somehow managed to pay $50,000 in mortgage interest, your taxable income is only $35,000. so bottom line, 50 times 25%, that's less than 12,500 less in federal taxes. why would anyone want to own a home and not have this tax break included? it just doesn't make sense. this is a big deal. >> clearly homeowners want this tax break to remain in place. but frankly it's not just the homeowners. it's the banking lobby, the national association of realtors, national association of home builders and people championing the recovery, the housing recovery. they say, listen, if you take this mortgage interest deduction away, you risk the housing market going south and we're starting to pick it up here. >> we say that the housing

market is on a rebound. something like this, the ripple effect would be huge. >> it's a huge disincentive to home ownership and, frankly, again we came through a period in 2007, 02008, 2009 and '10, prices dropped dramatically and people wondering if home ownership is worth it. the percentage has gone down into the low 70s and people say, if i don't have a tax break, no way. i'd be much better off, i'd rather rent. >> thanks so much. for more, check her website out, askthemoneycoach.com. >> thank you. mitt romney finally gets a gig. it's time now for the poly sidebar. he reclaims his seat on the international marriott board of directors. fashions leading lady could

be getting an assignment from the president. word is that the president wants to thank one of his biggest campaign contributors to an ambassadorship of the uk or france. actress turned senator. you heard about this, right? it could become a reality because actress ashley judd is considering a run against senate majority leader mitch mcconnell of kentucky. she is conducting opposition research against herself. apparently she's also considering a 2016 bid against senator rand paul. tweeting about his mission to live on a budget of $30 a week, cory booker starts his food challenge today. he tweeted a receipt of what he spent. broccoli, corn, lots of beans.

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we are keeping our eyes on breaking news out of egypt. the associated press reporting that police are using tear gas to stop protesters from approaching the presidential palace. they are pro tess testing against president morsi's unrestricted powers and draft constitution adopted by hisal allies. >> the great expectations in britain this morning, expectations tempered with caution. prince william returned to king edward vi to be at the bedside of his hospital who is less than 12 weeks pregnant and treated for morning sickness. while her condition is guarded it's created worldwide excitement. fueling speculation the couple might be having twins. royal watcher neil shawn joins us live from london with more on

this. this type of morning sickness is very serious, only occurs in 2% of pregnant women but it does spark speculation she could be carrying twins. why? >> oh, thomas, i think that's a big speculation. that started this morning, actually, very early on in our news services over here. there's no word of that, of course, from royal palace or royal insiders or anything like that. the more worrying aspect is the fact that it's acute morning sickness as you mentioned is not necessarily too rare, but when you look at somebody of kate's shall we say frame, stature as it were, she's a very, very slim girl and not the biggest of eaters, so consequently, that's the main concern certainly for prince william and the royal family to build this girl up a little bit, make her stronger. >> when we talk about the buzz, obviously this has created a huge excitement for the royal family, neil, because so many people have been waiting for this news, so many well wishers

want to see the couple that they love so much have their first baby. but what does this do, the pressure that is put on kate, as she keeps a very, very busy and heck stick schedule. we saw her on friday playing field hockey at her elementary school. >> well, you're right, thomas. then again, it's actually a fantastic year for the royals. we've had the diamond jubilee, the involvement with the royal family and olympic games, a nice cap off. what's interesting with kate is that -- catherine as we should call her, she kind of lives a royal life, but seemingly normal life too. we saw a couple weeks ago when they went back, the duke and duchess went to cambridge and prince william was presented with that nice little baby gift. if you saw his face he looked delighted and she looked embarrassed, it was a clue she had an inkling at that point. she doesn't really like to cancel engagements and i predict she will be back on the royal

engagement treadmill as soon as she possibly can be. but they're saying seven to nine days now, so maybe it could be two weeks before we see her up and about again. >> they are an extraordinary couple. so i'm -- the well wishers around the globe want nothing but the best for the two of them. >> absolutely. >> royal watcher neil sean, thanks. i appreciate you keeping us posted on this one. >> pleasure. >> i'm going to see you back here tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. joining me ben cardin, congresswoman candice miller, only female republican to head up a committee appointed by john boehner and "the washington post" ezra klein. "now" with alex wagner is coming up for the next hour. you have a must-see hour. every day is must-see, every day is must-see, but grover. >> we have grover. grover is going to talk pink unicorns, tax hikes, the gop, we have at lot coming up, thomas. the fiscal cliff counter offer is eliciting a get-real from the

white house. we will ask tax master grover norquist about the prospect of a republican solution that actually involves tax increases. after that, ezra klein breaks down the offer and we will discuss today's pow wow between state governors and president obama and what it pore tends for the 21 million americans hoping for health care and "the new york times" frank bruney weighs in on doma and cage for marriage equality when "now" starts in just three minutes. n't my daughs black bean soup spectacular? [ man thinking ] oh, this gas. those antacids aren't working. oh no, not that, not here! [ male announcer ] antacids don't relieve gas. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. gas-x. the gas xperts. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. when you lost the thing you can't believe you lost.. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember you can expect some help. but what you might not expect,

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